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BinaryBraceletsLessontime:15MinutesBasiclessontimeincludesactivityonly.IntroductoryandWrap-Upsuggestionscanbeusedtodelvedeeperwhentimeallows.

LESSONOVERVIEWBinaryisextremelyimportanttothecomputerworld.Themajorityofcomputerstodaystoreallsortsofinformationinbinaryform.Thislessonhelpstodemonstratehowitispossibletotakesomethingthatweknowandtranslateitintoaseriesofonsandoffs.

TEACHINGSUMMARY

GettingStarted-15minutes1)Review2)Vocabulary3)OffandOn

Activity:BinaryBracelets-15minutes4)BinaryBracelets

Wrap-up-5minutes5)FlashChat-Whatdidwelearn?

Assessment-10minutes6)BinaryAssessments

LESSONOBJECTIVESStudentswill:

EncodelettersintobinaryDecodebinarybacktolettersRelatetheideaofstoringinitialsonabracelettotheideaofstoringinformationinacomputer

TEACHINGGUIDEMATERIALS,RESOURCESANDPREPFortheStudent

BinaryBraceletWorksheetBinaryAssessmentPensandPencilsScissors

FortheTeacherLessonVideoThisTeacherLessonGuideBinaryBraceletWorksheetBinaryAssessmentComputerforopeningorimagesofanopencomputerOptional:Writeashortmessageontheboardinbinary

GETTINGSTARTED(15MIN)1)ReviewThisisagreattimetoreviewthelastlessonthatyouwentthroughwithyourclass.Wesuggestyoualternatebetweenaskingquestionsofthewholeclassandhavingstudentstalkabouttheiranswersinsmallgroups.Herearesomequestionsthatyoucanaskinreview:

Whatdidwedolasttime?Whatdoyouwishwehadhadachancetodo?Didyouthinkofanyquestionsafterthelessonthatyouwanttoask?Whatwasyourfavoritepartofthelastlesson?

2)VocabularyThislessonhasonenewandimportantword:

Binary-Sayitwithme:Bi-nare-eeAwayofrepresentinginformationusingonlytwooptions3)OffandOn

Ifyou'vewrittenashortmessageontheboardinbinary,callthestudents'attentiontoitandaskifanyoneknowswhatitisorwhatitmeans.

LESSONTIP Finishingthereviewbyaskingaboutthestudents'favoritethingshelpstoleaveapositiveimpressionofthepreviousexercise,increasingexcitementfortheactivitythatyouareabouttointroduce.

Putthemessageasideandmoveontopreppingfortheactivity.Youcanstartbyaskingtheclassiftheyhaveeverseeninsideacomputer.

What'sinthere?Thisisagoodplacetoactuallyshowthemtheinsideofacomputer(orpicturesoftheinsideofacomputer).

Wirescarryinformationthroughthemachineintheformofelectricity.Thetwooptionsthatacomputeruseswithrespecttothiselectricalinformationare"off"and"on."

Whencomputersrepresentinformationusingonlytwooptions,it'scalled"Binary."Thatthemeoftwooptionsdoesn'tstopwhentheinformationgetstoitsdestination.

Computersalsostoreinformationusingbinary.Binaryisn'talwaysoffandon.

HardDiskDrivesstoreinformationusingmagneticpositiveandmagneticnegative.DVDsstoreinformationaseitherreflectiveornon-reflective.

Howdoyousupposewecanconvertthethingswestoreinacomputerintobinary?Let'sstartwithletters.UsetheBinaryDecoderKeytoshowhowacomputermightrepresentcapitalletters.

Thisisagoodtimetomentionthateachspotwhereyouhaveabinaryoptioniscalleda"binarydigit"or"bit"forshort.Askifanyoneknowswhatagroupingofeightbitsiscalled(it'sabyte.)Funfact:Agroupingoffourbitsiscalledanibble.

Gooverafewexamplesofconvertinglettersintobinary,thenback.Afterward,writeanencodedletterandgivetheclassafewsecondstofigureoutwhatitis.Whentheclasscanfigureoutyourencodedlettersontheirown,youcanmoveontotheactivity.

ACTIVITY:(20MIN)4)BinaryBraceletWorksheet

Directions:1. FindthefirstletterofyourfirstnameintheBinaryDecoderKey.2. Fillinthesquaresoftheprovidedbracelettomatchthepatternofthesquaresnexttotheletter

thatyouselected.3. Cutthebraceletout.4. Tapethebraceletaroundyourwristtowearit!5. Shareyourbraceletwithyourclassmatestoseeiftheycanfigureoutyourletter.

LESSONTIP Youknowyourclassroombest.Astheteacher,decideifstudentsshoulddothisindividuallyorifstudentsshouldworkinpairsorsmallgroups.Youdonotneedtocoverthewholeofbinary,includingcountingandconvertingnumbersbackandforthfromdecimal.Thislessonisintendedtobeafunintroductiontohowcomputersstoreinformation,notafrustratinglessoninbases.

Aftertheactivity,revisitthemessagethatwasontheboardandseeifyourclasscandecypheritusingwhatthey'velearned.

WRAP-UP(5MIN)5)FlashChat:Whatdidwelearn?

Whatelsedoyouthinkisrepresentedasbinaryinsideofacomputer?Howelsemightyourepresentbinaryinsteadofboxesthatarefilledornotfilled?Whatwasyourfavoritepartaboutthatactivity?

ASSESSMENT(15MIN)7)BinaryAssessment

Handouttheassessmentworksheetandallowstudentstocompletetheactivityindependentlyaftertheinstructionshavebeenwellexplained.Thisshouldfeelfamiliar,thankstothepreviousactivities.

EXTENDEDLEARNINGUsetheseactivitiestoenhancestudentlearning.Theycanbeusedasoutsideofclassactivitiesorotherenrichment.BinaryImages

Thereareseveralgreatresourcesonthewebfortakingthisactivitytothenextlevel.Ifyourstudentsareinterestedinhowimages(orevenmusic)canberepresentedasbinary,youcanfindmore

LESSONTIP Ifyourclasshasextrabudgetformaterials,trydoingthisexerciseusingthread(orpipecleaners)andbeadstocreatethebinarybraceletsinsteadofpenandpaper.Youcanprovideanycombinationoftwocolorsinbeadstothestudents,butblackandwhitetendtobeeasiest,giventhewaythatthekeyisdone.

detailsinThinkersmith'sBinaryBaubles.